Deputies arrest a 16-year-old in Bloomingdale library rape and beating

The circular driveway in front of the Bloomingdale Library in Valrico, where a girl was beaten and raped Thursday night when she went to return books at an after-hours drop box. [CARRIE PRATT | Times]

VALRICO -- Deputies this morning arrested a 16-year-old male in Thursday's brutal rape and beating of a teenage girl outside a Bloomingdale public library, a sheriff's spokesman said.

Kendrick Morris of Tampa (photo left) was taken into custody at his home at 4:15 a.m., five hours after Hillsborough County Chief Deputy Jose Docobo held a late-night press conference to say deputies were seeking to serve a search warrant on an individual they believe might be responsible.

Morris is a freshman at Bloomingdale High School and has prior juvenile offense record, said Hillsborough Sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement records show he was arrested three times in 2004 and 2005 on a charge of cruelty to animals. He is now facing charges as an adult of two counts of sexual battery with great bodily harm, aggravated battery and kidnapping with intent to commit a felony, Callaway said.

Morris' grandmother, Lucina Stevens, said authorities arrested the wrong person and that her grandson was picked up merely because he frequently uses the library.

"That's not Kenny, anybody will tell you that," Stevens said in the doorway of her Clair Mel home where Morris lived. "He's always at the library. He goes there after school. He was pointed out to detectives as one of the last people at the library."

She described her grandson as gentle, despite his big frame. He played football for the high school team, she said.

"He didn't do it," she said. "He would not hurt no girl." 

The crime and the arrest were all parents could talk about today as they gathered for their children's games at a ballfield down the road from the library.

"Everybody was talking about how relieved we were (that a suspect was in custody) but how surprised we were to hear it was a ninth grade student at Bloomingdale," said Heather O'Connell, a parent, local elementary school teacher and coordinator of the Bloomingdale Cove Crime Watch.

Some of the mothers were worried about how close their children might have come to the suspect in school, she said. Even after the arrest, parents no longer feel as safe as they once did, she said.

"Everybody was saying we need to keep our garage doors closed and not let our kids out after dark," O'Connell said. "We tend to think there isn't a lot of crime here and that everything is safe and okay, but you never know."

The 18-year-old victim was chatting with a friend while returning library books about 10:40 p.m. Thursday when she was severely beaten and raped, leaving the girl unconscious and in critical condition, authorities said.

Throughought Friday, deputies searched a nearby pond, and took to the surrounding neighborhoods and roads in search of any potential witnesses and evidence. Around 7:30 p.m., Friday Chief Deputy Jose Docobo announced they'd located promising evidence -- the victim's purse -- that they were processing. Then, at 11:15 p.m., he said they had a suspect, but did not name him.

At a news conference Friday afternoon, Docobo said a 30-year-old woman had come forward to say that "she was approached by this individual" Thursday night before the report of the rape at a location very close to the library. He later said the tipster's experience was unrelated to the 18-year-old's case.

The teenage rape victim, identified only as a student at a local high school, arrived at the Bloomingdale Regional Public Library, 1906 Bloomingdale Ave. around 10:40 p.m. Authorities said the girl was talking to a friend on her cell phone when she parked about 3 feet from the library's night drop boxes.

She told the friend there was a man sitting on the bench near the depository. Then, deputies said, the girl screamed. The phone went dead.

Investigators are still sorting out what happened next, but know this much: someone called 911, then family and friends arrived about 10 minutes later to find the girl about 200 feet from the library, unconscious and badly injured.

Blood was found on the pavement near her car, Callaway said. Some personal items were also taken during the attack, but authorities did not identify them.

The teen was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital in critical condition. Callaway said she recently turned 18. Callway said this morning the girl was still in critical condition, unconscious and unable to talk to investigators.

The horrific nature of the crime led investigators to dedicate round-the-clock resources to finding the suspect, he said."Deputies and detectives worked for about 40 hours straight," Callaway said. "It was a heinous crime -- an innocent victim coming to the library like that...This guy showed a great propensity to harm someone. The victim came close to dying."

Morris was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center, but is expected to be booked into Orient Road Jail in coming days as prosecutors charge him as an adult, Callaway said.

Hillsborough libraries, including Bloomingdale, opened their doors this morning as county officials clamored to make sense of the attack.

"This is a horrible, unimaginable incident," said county spokeswoman Marcia Mejia.

Mejia said the Bloomingdale branch, which opened in Feb. 2005, is among the county's newest libraries. She said the parking lot is well lit and the drive-up deposit boxes are designed with safety in mind.

"Things like this don't happen over here," said Lynn Henderson of Lithia, who was at the library on Friday.

Casey Cora, Jessica Vander Velde and Rebecca Catalanello, Times staff writers

Hillsborough County Sheriff's detectives search an area where a girl was found beaten and raped after she went to return books at the Bloomingdale Regional Public Library late Thursday night. [CARRIE PRATT | Times]